It's been another busy day at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour presented by Monte-Carlo Casino??, and there's been another fine display of poker in the �100,000 EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller.
The biggest buy-in event of the series saw another five entries before the late registration period closed to take the overall total to 37. That meant there were 26 players to start the day, but that field has now been whittled down to the last seven players. The finalists are all battling it out for the lion's share of the �3,589,740 prize pool, with the eventual winner walking away with the title, trophy and �1,238,740
And after ten levels of play, Alex Kulev ended the second stage with the chip lead, while Mikita Badziakouski and Artur Martirosian round out the top three chip counts. Defending champion Adrian Mateos will return for the final day at the bottom of the counts and props up Orpen Kisacikoglu, Ben Heath and Santhosh Suvarna.
They'll be back for Day 3 at 12:30 p.m. local time on Monday, May 1, with cards up coverage being broadcasted across PokerStars' YouTube and Twitch Channels. The blinds when they return will be 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante.
Day 3 Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Heath | United Kindom | 755,000 | 13 |
| 2 | Santhosh Suvarna | India | 645,000 | 11 |
| 3 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | Turkey | 1,435,000 | 24 |
| 4 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 625,000 | 10 |
| 5 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | 1,810,000 | 30 |
| 6 | Alex Kulev | Bulgaria | 2,085,000 | 35 |
| 7 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 1,895,000 | 32 |
Action from Day 2
As mentioned, the day began with 26 players and the likes of Suvarna, Mike Watson, Jean-Noel Thorel and Mikalai Vaskaboinikau all opted to reenter. Suvarna and Watson were on their third bullet, while Thorel and Vaskaboinikau were on their second. The only newcomer was Kazuhiko Yotsushika, but he was soon despatched after Sam Greenwood was the first player to exit Day 2.
Seth Davies, Aleksejs Ponakovs, Isaac Haxton and Steve O'Dwyer were just some of the star names to be felted in the middle of the day.
O'Dwyer had his pocket aces cracked by Kulev, and the high-stakes aficionado was less than impressed with his fortunes over the last two days.
Justin Bonomo and Sirzat Hissou both suffered coolers before the dinner break to set up the final table bubble. Bonomo rivered two pair but it was no good against the top two held by Kulev. Hissou had arguably the sickest bust of Day 2 as he flopped a set of jacks only to see that he was behind the flopped straight of Kisacikoglu.
Start-of-day chip leader Kayhan Mokri was also a surprise elimination after bagging by far the biggest stack on Day 1.
Once the players returned from dinner, Stephen Chidwick was eliminated on the first-hand back, and the remaining nine players convened around one table. The action then began to slow, with the money bubble looming. Only the top six players would make the money, and neither player wanted to depart.
It took over two hours of play for the first final-table elimination, with Christoph Vogelsang finding himself on the wrong side of the rail after Ben Heath's ace-high remained ahead against his king-queen. Another age would pass before another seat became vacant. However, one did open up as Timothy Adams lost a classic coin flip to Badziakouski to set up the money bubble on the last level of the night. Following Adam's bust out, no player was eliminated and Day 3 will resume on the stone money bubble.
Once the bubble bursts, the final six players will have all locked up a payday of at least �251,300, and one player who was surprised to find himself still in contention of cashing is Suvarna. He must have found at least 15 double-ups throughout the day and refused to roll over to the amusement and dismay of his tablemates.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|
| 1 | �1,238,440 |
| 2 | �807,700 |
| 3 | �556,400 |
| 4 | �412,800 |
| 5 | �323,100 |
| 6 | �251,300 |
PokerNews will be back on the floor for Day 3, but hand histories will be on a 30-minute delay to not spoiler the live stream. As always, be sure to stick around to find out the conclusion of this enthralling event.
